Mary

by David Lins  |  01/16/2022  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

So many non-Catholic Christians are pretty concerned about our “obsession with Mary.” And who could blame them?

We have a statue of her in our church. She has her own shelf in our parish library (next to the parish office). The rosary is frequently said across our campus. And—of course—our particular parish is named after the (Holy) Woman!

Why so much attention on her when we could be focusing entirely on the Lord?!

Because since the beginning, the Christian Church has valued our relationship with the Lord AND one another as the family of God.

This is an aspect of why (unlike most of our Protestant brothers and sisters) missing Mass without valid medical reasons, is sinful. We—as family—must gather around our Father’s table and participate. Because our Faith is about not only about our relationship with God individually, but also our relationship with Him as His family. And who is our mother? OF COURSE she is important to us!

Don’t believe this strange LACK of devotion is a recent development in relation to the history of Christianity since the time of Christ? Listen to the words of Martin Luther in the 1500’s. “She, the Lady above heaven and earth, must... have a heart so humble that she might have no shame in washing the swaddling clothes or preparing a bath for St. John the Baptist, like a servant girl. What humility! It surely would have been more just to have arranged for her a golden coach, pulled by 4,000 horses, and to cry and proclaim as the carriage proceeded: ’Here passes the woman who is raised far above all women, indeed above the whole human race!” (Sermon July 2, 1532) And “Thou art more than an empress or a queen... blessed above all nobility, wisdom, or saintliness!” (Ibid., 36:208, 45:107).

The statue of Mary reminds us to turn our lives over to God as completely as she did. The Rosary is a holy combination of Scripture, our earliest prayers, and reflection on the life of Christ. The vast volumes of books on Mary draw us into deeper relationship with her and—in turn—her Son.

And if you still are unsure if Mary ultimately leads us to her Son, look no further than today’s Gospel which gives us Mary’s final recorded words in Scripture, “Do whatever He (Jesus) tells you.”

Comments, concerns, questions? Email David at dlins@oloj.org